Bill deposit/withdrawal machine for depositing/withdrawing bills

ABSTRACT

A bill deposit/withdrawal machine for performing deposit or withdrawal of bills according to a transaction, having a deposit/withdrawal port disposed in an upper part of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine, for performing deposit or withdrawal of bills, a bill discriminating unit for discriminating bills, a solid bill box casing is disposed in a lower part of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine. At least one bill accepting box is disposed in the bill box casing, for accepting bills transported from the deposit/withdrawal port and/or accepting bills to be transported to the deposit/withdrawal port. A bill transport path is provided for connecting the deposit/withdrawal port to the bill accepting box through the bill discriminating unit and for transporting bills. The bill transport path includes an upper bill transport path and a lower bill transport path.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation application of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/455,535, filed Dec. 7, 1999, which applicationis related to U.S. Ser. No. 09/339,932 filed Jun. 25, 1999, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The conventional bill deposit/withdrawal machine mounted on anautomated teller machine used in, for example, a banking organ or thelike includes a deposit/withdrawal port for accepting bills (or papermoney) inputted by a user, delivering the bills inputted by the user,and accepting bills to be discharged to a user, a bill discriminatingunit for discriminating bills, and a bill transport path fortransporting bills while passing them through the bill discriminatingunit. The construction of the conventional bill deposit/ withdrawalmachine further includes the combination of units including a temporarystorage box for temporarily accepting deposited bills, a deposit box foraccepting deposited bills, a withdrawal box for delivering bills forwithdrawal, a recycle box for accepting and delivering bills for bothdeposit and withdrawal, a reject box for accepting deposited bills whichare not accepted in the deposit box or the recycle box and bills whichare delivered from the withdrawal box, but not withdrawn, and aload/recovery box for delivering bills to be supplemented for therecycle box and accepting bills recovered from the recycle box, an soforth. Various constructions have been proposed for the construction andarrangement of those units and the route of the bill transport path forconnecting those units.

[0003] For example, in an example described in JP-A-7-267513, tworing-like transport paths passing through a bill discriminating unit inone direction are configured in a character “8” form. In one of thering-like transport paths, a deposit port, a withdrawal port, and atemporary reserve unit are arranged. In the other of the ring-liketransport paths, a recycle box and a recovery box are arranged.

[0004] In an example described in JP-A-10-188074, a bidirectionaltransport path passing through a bill inspection unit in both directionsis provided. A deposit/withdrawal port, a temporary storage box (atemporary reserve accepting unit), and a recycle box (a 10,000-yen billand 1,000-yen bill accepting unit) are connected to the bidirectionaltransport path.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] With the spread of automated teller machines, there is anincreasing need for a bill deposit/ withdrawal machine which is smallerin size, lower in cost, and easier to use while assuring the functionsand performance of the conventional machine. Regarding bills to behandled, on the other hand, there is required a machine which can handlenot only Japanese yen bills but also foreign bills with the increase ofhandling of foreign bills in the territory of Japan and the increase ofa need for bill deposit/withdrawal machines outside the territory ofJapan. Furthermore, there are machines of various types according toneeds. There is required a bill deposit/withdrawal machine which can bewidely used and which can cope with a wide variety of needs, such as thebill kinds to be handled, arrangement of a bill slot for deposit andwithdrawal regarding the user operation, the front or back faceoperation regarding the operation of the clerk in charge, and the billbox casing regarding the security.

[0006] In the conventional technique, a bill deposit/ withdrawal machineof return type which recycles deposited bills for withdrawal includes adeposit/ withdrawal port, recycle boxes for respective bill kinds, abill discriminating unit, and a bill transport path. The bill transportpath has such a complicated construction as to join/branch around thebill discriminating unit in a branch form. For instance, in the exampleshown in the aforementioned JP-A-7-267513, a bill transport pathincludes a first ring-like bill transport path which passes through abill inspection device and pass through a lower part of adeposit/withdrawal port, and a second ring-like bill transport pathwhich passes through the bill inspection device and pass through arecycle box. The bill transport path thus constructs a “character8-shaped” bill transport path. In the example described inJP-A-10-188074, a bidirectional transport path passing through a billinspection unit in both directions is provided. A deposit/withdrawalport, a temporary storage box, and a recycle box (a 10,000-yen bill and1,000-yen bill accepting unit) are connected to the bidirectionaltransport path. This bidirectional transport path is composed of threebidirectional transport paths requiring respective separate drivingsources. At the time of deposit operation (operation before depositdetermination and operation after deposit determination) and at the timeof withdrawal operation, directions of respective transport paths needto be switched independently.

[0007] Such a machine operates in an automated-machine corner of abanking organ in an unmanned state for a whole day, and needs to operatefor cash deposit/ withdrawal transactions of users with highreliability. For example, in deposit transactions, various users mightinput a folded or broken bill to the deposit port or input a coin or analien substance together with bills to the deposit port by mistake. Whendelivering such a bill, it might incline largely or be broken. Dependingupon the transport state, there is not a little possibility of jamoccurrence in the bill transport path. Furthermore, in a machine capableof handling foreign bills as well, not only the number of bill kindsincreases as compared with the case of Japanese yen bills, but also thesize of bills largely differ in both the longitudinal and lateraldirections according to the bill kind in many cases. There is apossibility of a large number of bills inputted to the deposit portbeing largely disturbed in evenness. Furthermore, as for the degree offold and breaking of bills, there are bills in conditions worse thanthose of Japanese yen bills, when seen from the circulating situation ofbills in various countries. In the above described conventional example,the bill transport path has complicated branch/confluent points.Therefore, reduction of bill jams in the bill transport path becomes animportant problem.

[0008] Furthermore, in the above described conventional example, theconstruction is expandable and universal as to the number of bill kindsto be handled. However, the above described universality capable ofcoping with various needs concerning the operability of the user and theclerk in charge and security has not been considered.

[0009] A first object of the present invention is to provide a billdeposit/withdrawal machine having a simple bill transport pathconstruction.

[0010] A second object of the present invention is to provide a highlyreliable bill deposit/withdrawal machine which is reduced in bill jamnot only for Japanese yen bills but also for bills of various sizes.

[0011] A third object of the present invention is to provide automatedteller machines satisfying various specifications as to the operabilityof the user and the clerk in charge and the security, and provide a billdeposit/withdrawal machine having a high general-purpose ability as tothe operability of the user and the clerk in charge and security.

[0012] The above described objects are attained by a billdeposit/withdrawal machine according to the present invention having adeposit/withdrawal port, a bill discriminating unit, bill acceptingboxes, and a bill transport path.

[0013] In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, adeposit/withdrawal port and a bill discriminating unit are disposed inan upper part of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine, whereas billaccepting boxes are disposed in a lower part of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine. A bill transport path is constructed so as to beable to be divided into the upper part and the lower part. Apart from amachine casing surrounding the whole of an automated teller machine, abill box casing surrounding only a lower part of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine composed of a lower bill transport path and the billaccepting boxes can be mounted. The lower bill transport path isdisposed near the wall face of user's operation side of the bill boxcasing, or near the wall face of the opposite side.

[0014] In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, thelower bill transport path is constructed so as to be openable andclosable in order that the bill accepting boxes can be individuallyoperated in the horizontal direction of either of the user's side andits opposite side.

[0015] In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, thelower bill transport path is constructed so as to be reversible in theforward-backward direction in order that the lower bill transport pathis disposed on a side opposite to the user's side in the case of amachine of front operation type and on the user's side in the case of amachine of back operation type.

[0016] Owing to such constructions, automated teller machines of variousspecifications in aspects of operability of the clerk in charge andsecurity are provided. In addition, a bill deposit/withdrawal machinewhich is highly versatile in aspects of operability of the clerk incharge and security can be provided.

[0017] In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, thebill transport path is formed of a ring-like main bill transport pathfor transporting bills through a bill discriminating unitunidirectionally, unit transport paths for connecting adeposit/withdrawal port and a temporary storage box to the main billtransport path, and a bidirectional accepting box transport path forconnecting at least one bill accepting boxes to the main bill transportpath.

[0018] In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, atemporary storage box includes a rotary drum, winds bills transportedfrom the bill discriminating unit around the rotary drum one afteranother to store the bills, and transport the wound bills to the billtransport path by rotating the rotary drum reversely aftermaterialization of a predetermined transaction. The temporary storagebox serves not only as a temporary deposited bill storage box forstoring bills kind-settled in the bill discriminating unit out ofdeposited bills until materialization of a transaction, but also as atemporary withdrawal rejected bill storage box for storing bills whichare not kind-settled in the bill discriminating unit out of billsdelivered from the bill accepting box at the time of withdrawtransaction, until materialization of a transaction. As a result, ahighly reliable bill deposit/withdrawal machine which is simple in billtransport path construction and low in risk of bill jam for bills ofvarious sizes can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0019]FIG. 1 is an oblique view showing an exterior view of anembodiment of an automated teller machine to which a first embodiment ofthe present invention is applied;

[0020]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing control relations of anautomated teller machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 3 is a side view showing a first embodiment of a billdeposit/withdrawal machine according to the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing control relations of a billdeposit/withdrawal machine in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023]FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing an operation method of theautomated teller machine shown in FIG. 1;

[0024]FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0025]FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0027]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0028]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0029]FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0030]FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0031]FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0032]FIG. 14 is a side view of a deposit/withdrawal port in anembodiment of the present invention (basic construction diagram);

[0033]FIG. 15 is a side view of a deposit/withdrawal port in anembodiment of the present invention (at the time of deposit);

[0034]FIG. 16 is a side view of a deposit/withdrawal port in anembodiment of the present invention (at the time of deliver);

[0035]FIG. 17 is a side view of a deposit/withdrawal port in anembodiment of the present invention (at the time of acceptance);

[0036]FIG. 18 is a side view of a deposit/withdrawal port in anembodiment of the present invention (at the time of withdrawal);

[0037]FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a construction example of a temporarystorage box in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038]FIG. 20 is a side view of a deposit box in an embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0039]FIG. 21 is a side view of a withdrawal box in an embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0040]FIG. 22 is a side view of a recycle box in an embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0041]FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing a bill flow at the time ofload count in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0042]FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram showing a bill flow at the time ofload acceptance in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043]FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing a bill flow at the time ofrecovery count in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044]FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing a bill flow at the time ofrecovery acceptance in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045]FIG. 27 is a side view showing a second embodiment of a billdeposit/withdrawal machine according to the present invention;

[0046]FIG. 28 is an oblique view showing an exterior view of anembodiment of an automated teller machine to which a second embodimentof the present invention is applied;

[0047]FIGS. 29A and 29B are diagrams showing operation methods of theautomated teller machine shown in FIG. 28;

[0048]FIGS. 30A, 30B and 30C are schematic diagrams of a bill transportpath construction in a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0049]FIG. 31 is a side view showing a third embodiment of a billdeposit/withdrawal machine according to the present invention;

[0050]FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention(construction diagram);

[0051]FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention (at the timeof deposit count);

[0052]FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention (at the timeof deposit acceptance);

[0053]FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention (at the timeof cancel return);

[0054]FIG. 36 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention (at the timeof withdrawal);

[0055]FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention (at the timeof withdrawal reject acceptance);

[0056]FIG. 38 is a schematic diagram of a bill transport pathconstruction in a third embodiment of the present invention (at the timeof recovery for forgotten takeout);

[0057]FIG. 39 is a side view showing an operation method of a fourthembodiment of a bill deposit/ withdrawal mechanism according to thepresent invention; and

[0058]FIG. 40 is a side view showing another operation method of afourth embodiment of a bill deposit/withdrawal mechanism according tothe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0059] <First Embodiment>

[0060] Hereafter, an embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed by referring to the drawing. FIG. 1 is an oblique view showingan exterior view of an automated teller machine to which the presentinvention is applied.

[0061] On the left inside of an automated teller machine 101, there areprovided a card/slip processing mechanism 102 and a customer operationsection 105. The card/slip processing mechanism 102 communicates with acard slot 102 a provided in an upper front plate 101 a to process auser's card, and prints and delivers a transaction particulars slip. Thecustomer operation section 105 is used for displaying and inputting thecontents of a transaction. Furthermore, on the right inside of theautomated teller machine 101, there is provided a billdeposit/withdrawal machine 1 for processing bills. In the upper inclinedfront plate 101 a, a bill slot 20 a is provided. A bill acceptancesection provided under the bill deposit/withdrawal machine 1 issurrounded by a bill box casing 106 made of a thick iron plate having athickness of several tens mm which is separate from a machine casing 101b. Although the machine casing 101 b also has a rigid casing structure,the bill box casing 106 has a more rigid structure to improve thesecurity. This automated teller machine 101 can conduct processing suchas user's deposit, withdrawal, and transfer by using a card, bills, anda slip as a medium.

[0062]FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing control relations of thepresent machine. As described before, the card/slip processing mechanism102, the bill deposit/withdrawal machine 1, and the customer operationsection 105 which are housed in the automated teller machine 101 areconnected to a body control section 107 through a bus 107 a and performtheir required operations under the control of the body control section106. Though the body control section 107 is also connected through thebus 107 a to an interface section 107 b, a clerk-in-charge operationsection 107 c and an external memory 107 d to make the communication ofnecessary data therewith, the detailed description thereof will beomitted since there is no direct relation with the features of thepresent invention. Reference numeral 101 e shown in FIG. 2 denotes apower supply section for supplying electric power to the above-mentionedmechanisms and components.

[0063]FIG. 3 is a side view showing the construction of that billdeposit/withdrawal mechanism 1 in the automated teller machine shown inFIG. 1 to which the present invention relates.

[0064] The bill deposit/withdrawal mechanism 1 is composed of adeposit/withdrawal port 20 for which a user makes the input/takeout ofbills, a bill discriminating unit 30 for discriminating bills, atemporary storage box 40 for accepting deposited bills once until thematerialization of a transaction, one deposit box 60 for accepting, atthe time of deposit, bills for which the materialization of atransaction is completed, one withdrawal box 70 for accepting bills forwithdrawal, two recycle boxes 80 for both deposit and withdrawal, aload/recovery box 81 for accepting bills to be supplemented for therecycle boxes 80 and bills recovered from the recycle box, a billtransport path 50 for transporting bills to the deposit/withdrawal port20, the temporary storage box 40, the deposit box 60, the withdrawal box70, the recycle boxes 80, and the load/recovery box 11 while passing thebills through the bill discriminating unit 30, and a control unit whichis not illustrated.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 4, a control unit 35 is connected to the bodycontrol unit 107 of the machine through the bus 107 a. The control unit35 performs the control of the bill deposit/withdrawal mechanism 1 inaccordance with a command from the body control section 107 and thedetection of the state of the bill deposit/ withdrawal mechanism 1, andsends the state of the bill deposit/withdrawal mechanism 1 to the bodycontrol section 107, as required. In the bill deposit/withdrawalmechanism 1, the control unit 35 is connected to a driving motor,electromagnetic solenoid or sensor of each unit (the deposit/withdrawalport 20, the bill discriminating unit 30, the temporary storage box 40,the bill transport path 50, the deposit box 60, the withdrawal box 70,the recycle boxes 80, and the load/recovery box 81) to control thedriving of actuators in accordance with transactions while monitoringthe states by use of the sensors.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 3, the present deposit/withdrawal machine 1 iscomposed of an upper transport mechanism 1 a and a lower bill mechanism1 b. The upper transport mechanism 1 a is composed of thedeposit/withdrawal port 20, the bill discriminating unit 30, thetemporary storage box 40, and the bill transport path 50. The lower billmechanism 1 b is composed of the deposit box 60, the withdrawal box 70,the recycle boxes 80, the load/recovery box 81, and an openable/closabletransport path 90 provided in front of respective accepting boxes.Furthermore, the lower bill mechanism 1 b is mounted within the bill boxcasing 106 made of a thick iron plate having a thickness ofapproximately 50 mm. The transport path of the upper transport mechanism1 a is connected to the transport path of the lower transport mechanism1 b through a coupling transport path 501 h.

[0067] The coupling transport path 501 h is disposed in a position of atop iron plate of the bill box casing 106 surrounding the lowertransport mechanism 1 b where a transport path 501 g of the uppertransport mechanism 1 a is coupled to a transport path 901 a of thelower transport mechanism 1 b. A slit opened in the top iron plate has alength for passing a bill, and a size of a width of transport rollersattached so as to sandwich and deliver a bill transported to the slit.If the lower transport mechanism 1 b is not surrounded by the bill boxcasing and the upper transport mechanism 1 a is placed directly on thelower transport mechanism 1 b, then the coupling transport path is notalways necessary. The driving source (motor) of the transport path maybe provided for each of the transport path of the upper transportmechanism and the transport path of the lower transport mechanism.Alternatively, a single driving source may be used, and the drivingforce may be transmitted through a gear provided in the transport path501 g-501 h-901 a.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 1, the bill deposit/ withdrawal machine 1 havingthe construction heretofore described is mounted on the right inside ofthe automated teller machine 101. Depending upon the machine type, thebill deposit/withdrawal machine 1 can be a front operation type or aback operation type. Depending upon whether the bill deposit/withdrawalmachine 1 is the front operation type or the back operation type, theconstruction differs slightly. In such a machine of front operation typethat a clerk in charge operates from the front of the machine as shownin FIG. 5A, a front door 101 c of the machine 1 and a front door 106 aof the bill box casing 106 are adapted to be openable and closable. Whenthe doors 101 c and 106 a are opened and the opened/closed transmissionpath 90 of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine 1 is further opened asillustrated, the accepting boxes having respective handles appear. Theclerk in charge can pull out each accepting box by means of this handle,and perform operations such as supplementation and recovery of bills andother maintenance works.

[0069] On the other hand, in such a machine of operation type that aclerk in charge operates from the back of the machine as shown in FIG.5B, a back door 101 d of the machine 1 and a back door 106 b of the billbox casing 106 are adapted to be openable and closable. When the doors101 d and 106 b are opened as illustrated, the accepting boxes havingrespective handles appear. The clerk in charge can pull out eachaccepting box by means of this handle, and perform operations.

[0070] By adopting such a construction that the opened/closedtransmission path is disposed near the front door or the back door ofthe lower bill mechanism as heretofore described, it becomes easy toperform the supplementation and recovery operation of bills and removaloperation of a jammed bill at the time of occurrence of an abnormality.Operability is thus improved. Furthermore, the operation of the clerk incharge can be conformed to both the front operation type and the backoperation type by merely disposing the opening and closing door in thefront face or back face.

[0071] By the way, if each accepting box is provided with rails, eachaccepting box can be pulled out smoothly.

[0072] Furthermore, the bill transport path 50 passes through the billdiscriminating unit 30 in both directions. By way of the transport pathindicated by arrows 501 a to 501 h and 901 a to 901 e, the billtransport path 50 connects the deposit/withdrawal port 20, the temporarystorage box 40, the deposit box 60, the withdrawal box 70, the recyclebox 80, and the load/ recovery box 81. Among arrows, each ofunidirectional arrows indicates a unidirectional bill transport path fortransporting bills only in the direction of the arrow. Each ofbidirectional arrows indicates a bidirectional transport path fortransporting bills in one of the both directions switched everytransaction operation. FIG. 6 schematically shows relations between thebill transport path 50 (501 a to 501 h and 901 a to 901 e) andrespective units (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 81) illustrated inFIG. 3. (For simplifying the drawing, a part of 50, 70, and 81 areomitted in FIG. 6.) The bill transport path 50 is driven by a drivingmotor which is not illustrated. For each of transaction operations asshown in FIGS. 7 to 13, the rotation direction of the motor is switched.Furthermore, switching gates 502, 503, 504 and five switching gates 902are disposed at branch points of the bill transport path 50. For each ofthe transaction operations, the bill transport direction is switched asindicated by symbols “a” and “b.”

[0073] In the bill transport path 50, five bill transport paths 901 a to901 e disposed in the lower bill mechanism 1 b and disposed in front ofthe deposit box 60, the withdrawal box 70, the recycle box 80, and theload/recovery box 81 construct the opened/closed transmission path 90adapted to be able to be opened/closed as one body. In the machine ofthe front operation type shown in FIG. 5A, the clerk in charge can openthe opened/closed transmission path 90, and operate the deposit box 60,the withdrawal box 70, the recycle box 80, and the load/recovery box 81.

[0074] Prior to description of operation of each of transactionoperations shown in FIGS. 7 to 13, details of the above-mentioned units(20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 81) of the present embodiment andoperations thereof will be hereafter described in detail by referring toFIGS. 14 to 22.

[0075] The deposit/withdrawal port 20 has a shutter 201, as shown inFIG. 14. The shutter 201 can be slid in a direction of arrow 217 to beopened/closed. When the shutter 201 is moved into a state indicated byillustrated 201 a, the user can take out bills at the time of withdrawaland input bills at the time of deposit in a direction indicated by arrow202. A bill hopper 216 is rotated between a position indicated by asolid line and a position indicated by a broken line.

[0076] When a user deposits bills at the time of deposit transaction,the shutter 201 is opened as shown in FIG. 15. Bills 210 are inputtedbetween a front plate 204 and a push plate 203 with a rear plate 205.The front plate 204, the push plate 203, and the rear plate 205 aresupported by the bill hopper 216. Subsequently, at the time of deliveryoperation of deposited bills, the shutter 201 is closed and the billhopper 216 is rotated as shown in FIG. 16. Thereafter, the bills arepushed by the plate 203 in a direction of a feed roller 206 so that thepush plate and the front plate are brought into the states of 203 a and204 a and the bills are fed forward by a rotating operation of the feedroller 206, while a two-sheet feed is prevented by a gate roller 207which does not rotate in the direction of delivery. Thus, the bills 210at the deposit/withdrawal port 2 are delivered in a direction indicatedby arrow 208 so that they join the bill transport path 50 and are thentaken into the machine.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 17, bills withdrawn from the machine and billsrejected for reasons such as the difficulty in bill discrimination atthe time of deposit or the like are transported from the inside of themachine in a direction of arrow 501 f, and they are sent between arotating stack roller 211 and a backup roller 213. A brush roller 212 isdisposed on the same axis as the backup roller 213 and has elasticmembers 212 a radially arranged, as shown. The brush roller 212 isrotated by a driving source (not shown) independently of the backuproller 213. The bill sent between the stack roller 211 and the backuproller 213 contacts the elastic member 212 a of the stopped brush roller212 and is passed while receiving a frictional resistance force againsta stack guide 214 owing to an elastic deformation force of the elasticmember 212 a. The bill is stopped once at a bill position indicated bysolid line 215 where a sandwiching transport force of the stack roller211 and the backup roller 213 runs out. Immediately thereafter, thebrush roller 212 is rotated so that the bill is stacked in a spacebetween the push plate 203 a and a rear plate 205 a. Accordingly, thebill does not fly out upward in an accepting space. By merely scratchingthe bill in a horizontal direction by the brush roller 212, nointerference between continuously transported bills is caused and hencea vertical unevenness is rarely to be caused. Accordingly, it becomespossible for the user to easily take out the bills. As shown in FIG. 18,the bill hopper 216 is rotated, and then the shutter 201 is opened.Bills accepted in the bill hopper 215 are discharged to the user.

[0078] Description will be given by referring to FIG. 3 again. Thoughthe details are not shown, the bill discriminating unit 30 is composedof a two-sheet detecting portion which includes a pair of rollers anddetects the displacement of the rollers at the time of transport ofbills between the rollers to detect whether or not there is thesuperimposition of two sheets one over the other, and a discriminatingportion which detects the print of a bill by means of an image sensor orthe like to discriminate the kind of that bill and the truth orfalsehood thereof. The control unit 35 is informed of the result ofdiscrimination for each passed bill.

[0079] The temporary storage box 40 has a function of successivelyaccepting bills deposited from the deposit/withdrawal port 20 andkind-settled by the bill discriminating unit 30 at the time of deposittransaction, reserving them temporarily until the transaction ismaterialized, and successively discharging the bills after thematerialization of the transaction. Besides, though the details will bedescribed later, the temporary storage box 40 in the present embodimenthas a function of accepting bills which are not kind-settled by the billdiscriminating unit 30 at the time of withdrawal transaction, reservingthem temporarily until the withdrawal transaction is materialized, andafter the termination of the operation, discharging the bills at thetime of withdrawal reject acceptance operation. The construction of thetemporary storage box 4 is shown in FIG. 19. The temporary storage box40 is composed of an inducing tape made of plastic, a rotary drum 401for winding a bill transported together with the inducing tape 403around it, a winding shaft 402 for winding only the inducing tape 403around it, an inlet roller 405 for guiding the entrance of a bill to therotary drum 401 and rotating together with the inducing tape 403, and abackup roller 404 provided opposite to the inlet roller 405. The rotarydrum 401 and the winding shaft 402 supporting the opposite ends of theinducing tape 403 are respectively connected to separate driving sources411 and 412. The connection of the winding shaft 402 to the drivingsource 412 is made through a torque limiter 413.

[0080] An initial-portion sensor (not shown) for detecting an initialposition of the inducing tape 403 and a near-fullness sensor (not shown)for detecting the vicinity of the end of the inducing tape 403 may beprovided while an encoder (not shown) for detecting the current windingamount of the inducing tape 403 with the initial position of theinducing tape 403 taken as a reference is attached to the inlet roller405, so that the control unit 35 makes a timing control or the like byuse of signals from the sensors and the encoder. Also, a temporarystorage box passage sensor for sensing bills to be accepted in thetemporary storage box and discharged therefrom to count the bills may beprovided on the transport path from the inlet roller 405 on the rotarydrum 401 side.

[0081] Before acceptance operation, the inducing tape 403 has been woundon the winding shaft 402 side up to the initial position. In the casewhere accepted bills are to be accepted into the temporary storage box40, the driving source 411 is driven in such a direction as to wind theinducing tape 403 around the rotary drum 401. The rotary drum 401rotates so that the travel speed of the inducing tape 403 becomessubstantially equal to the entering speed of bills. The switching gate503 is switched to a direction indicated by 503 a in FIG. 19 and theinlet/outlet gate 504 is switched to a direction indicated by 504 a.Thereby, the deposited bills transported in the direction of arrow 501 care successively wound around the rotary drum 401 through a route ofarrows 501 d and 454. On the other hand, the winding shaft 402 is drivenby the driving source 412 through the torque limiter 413 so that atensile force is applied to the inducing tape 403. Thereby, the inducingtape 403 is wound around the rotary drum 401 with no slack and togetherwith the bills.

[0082] At the time of discharge operation, the inlet/outlet gate 504 isswitched to a direction indicated by 504 b and the rotary drum 401 isreversely rotated while the winding shaft 402 is driven in its windingdirection through the torque limiter with a tensile force applied to theinducing tape 403. Thereby, the bills wound on the rotary drum 401 aredelivered on the bill transport path 50 through a route of arrow 455 ina sequence reverse to that at the time of acceptance. In the dischargeoperation, there are two kinds as described later. When the inlet/outletgate 504 is switched to a direction indicated by 504 a, the bills aredischarged in a direction indicated by arrows 501 d and 501 c. When theinlet/outlet gate 504 is switched to a direction indicated by 504 b, thebills are discharged in a direction indicated by arrow 501 e.

[0083] Referring to FIG. 3 again, the deposit box 60 is mounted one innumber in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 20, the deposit box60 constructs a stack mechanism composed of a rotating stack roller 601driven through a gear by a driving source (not shown) outside the box60, backup rollers 602 and 603 opposite to the stack roller 601, a brushroller 604 disposed on the same axis as the backup roller 603 androtated by a driving source (not shown) independently of the backuproller, the brush roller having elastic members 604 a radially arranged,as shown, a lower stack guide 605 and an upper stack guide 606. A billaccepting space includes a stacked-bill accepting space 617 which isformed by an upper partition plate 611, a lower partition plate 613 anda push plate 615, and a bill-under-stacking accepting space 616 which isformed by the upper partition plate 611, the lower partition plate 613,the upper stack guide 606 and the lower stack guide 605.

[0084] Bills to be accepted in the deposit box 60 are transported in adirection of arrow 902 a from the bill transport path (indicated byarrow 901 a) with a switching gate 903 switched as indicated by 903 b,and are then sent between the rotating stack roller 601 and the backuprollers 602 and 603. The bill sent between the stack roller 601 and thebackup roller 603 contacts the elastic member 604 a of the stopped brushroller 604, and is passed while receiving a frictional resistance forceagainst the lower stack guide 605 owing to an elastic deformation forceof the elastic member 604 a. The bill is stopped once in a positionwhere sandwiching transport force of the stack roller 601 and the backuproller 603 runs out. Immediately thereafter, the brush roller 604 isrotated so that the bill is stacked in the above-mentionedbill-under-stacking accepting space 616 with no interference causedbetween continuously transported bills.

[0085] Next, a driving belt 618 is driven by a driving source (notshown) so that a push plate 608, a push assist guide 609, a push supportshaft 610 and the upper stack guide 606 coupled to the driving belt 618are moved up to positions of dotted lines 608 a, 609 a, 610 a and 606 ain directions of arrows 621 and 622 while the upper partition plate 611and an upper partition plate support shaft 612 coupled to the drivingbelt 618 are successively moved to positions of dotted lines 611 a and612 a, to positions of dotted lines 611 b and 612 b and to positions ofdotted lines 611 c and 612 b in a direction of arrow 625. Thereby, thebills stacked in the bill-under-stacking accepting space 616 are pushedinto the stacked-bill accepting space 617 together with bills in thestacked-bill accepting space 617 by moving the push plate 615 in adirection of arrow 624 and the lower stack guide 613 in a direction ofarrow 623. Next, the driving belt 618 is driven in a reverse directionso that the push plate 608, the push assist guide 609, the push supportshaft 610, the upper stack guide 606, the upper partition plate 611 andthe upper partition plate support shaft 612 are returned to the initialpositions to bring the bill-under-stacking accepting space 616 into anempty condition, thereby enabling the next stacking operation.

[0086] The withdrawal box 70 is mounted one in number in the presentembodiment. As shown in FIG. 21, the withdrawal box 70 constructs aseparation mechanism composed of a rotating feed roller 701 and arotating pickup roller 711 which are driven through gears by drivingsources (not shown) outside the box 70, a rotating backup roller 702which is provided opposite to the feed roller 701, and a gate roller 704which is provided opposite to the feed roller 701 and does not rotate ina delivering direction. Bills for withdrawal are set in alignment (orwith evenness) by a clerk in charge into an accepting space enclosed bya bottom plate guide 709, a push plate 706, a separation guide 705 andan upper face guide 708 with the foremost bill pushed against the pickuproller 711 by a spring (not shown) coupled to the push plate 706. Thepush plate 706 is made movable in the accepting space to move theaccepted bills so that bills to be delivered impose a predeterminedpushing force upon the pickup roller 711 with the decrease in number ofaccepted bills. The bills pushed against the pickup roller 711 aredelivered owing to the operations of the rotating feed and pickuprollers 701 and 711 and are transported one by one in a direction ofarrow 902 e while a two-sheet feed is prevented by the gate roller 703which does not rotate in the delivering direction. Thus, the bills aretransported along the bill transport path in a direction of arrow 901 e.

[0087] The recycle box 80 is mounted two in number in the presentembodiment. The construction of the recycle box 80 is shown in FIG. 22.

[0088] The recycle box 80 has both the function of the deposit box 60 ofcontinuously accepting bills and the function of the withdrawal box 70of continuously delivering bills in a separated manner. Therefore, therecycle box 80 is an accepting box which is capable of performingacceptance and separate delivery. The recycle box 80 constructs astack/separation mechanism composed of a stack/feed roller 801 and apickup roller 811 which have the same shapes as the separation mechanismdescribed with reference to the withdrawal box 70, a rotating backuproller 802, a gate roller 803 which rotates in a stacking direction anddoes not rotate in a delivering direction, a brush roller 804 which isdisposed on the same axis as the gate roller 803 and includes radiallyarranged elastic members, and a separation/stack guide 805 which is mademovable at the time of separation and at the time of stacking. Bills areaccepted in an accepting space enclosed by a bottom plate 808, a pushplate 806, a flat bottom face belt 807 suspended so that it supports thelower face of a bill in a plane upper than the bottom plate 808, and theseparation/stack guide 805. The recycle box 80 is further provided witha rotating upper scratch roller 812 disposed with a sawtooth-likeperiphery form in the vicinity of the separation/stack guide 805 in anupper portion of the accepting section, and a rotating lower scratchbelt 809 disposed with a sawtooth-like periphery form in the vicinity ofthe separation/stack guide 805 in a lower portion of the acceptingsection, so that the sawtooth-like periphery portions support the upperand lower ends of a stacked bill to maintain a standing condition of thebill while scratching the bill on the push plate 806 side.

[0089] At the time of separation operation, the separation/stack guide805 is moved to a position indicated by dotted line 805 a, and the pushplate 806 and the bottom face belt 807 are made movable integrally inthe accepting space to move the accepted bills so that bills to bedelivered impose a predetermined pushing force upon the pickup roller811 owing to a spring which is not shown. The bills pushed against thepickup roller 811 are delivered by the rotating stack/feed roller 801,and are transported one by one in a direction of arrow 902 b while atwo-sheet feed is prevented by the gate roller 803 which does not rotatein the delivering direction. Also, a switching gate 903 of the billtransport path is switched to a direction of 903 b so that the bills aretransported in a direction of arrow 901 b.

[0090] At the time of stack operation, the separation/ stack guide 805is moved to a position indicated by a solid line, and the push plate 806and the bottom face belt 807 are made movable integrally in theaccepting space owing to driving sources (not shown) outside the recyclebox to make the controlled movement of the accepted bills in a directionreceding from the separation/stack guide 805 so that an entering billtransported in a direction of arrow 902 b and the accepted bills do notinterfere with the increase in number of accepted bills. At this time,the upper scratch roller 812 and the lower scratch roller 809 make alefthanded rotation and a righthanded rotation, respectively, so thatthe sawtooth-like periphery portions support the upper and lower ends ofa stacked bill to maintain a standing condition of the bill whilescratching the bill on the push plate 806 side.

[0091] The load/recovery box 81 has the same construction as the recyclebox 80. Although the load/recovery box 81 is not used fordeposit/withdrawal transaction, it may be used as a recycle box.

[0092] Next, the operation of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine of thepresent embodiment will be described by referring to schematic diagramsof FIGS. 7 to 13 and FIGS. 23 to 26. (As for detailed construction andreference numerals, see FIG. 3.) Operations of deposit transaction areclassified into deposit count operation for counting bills deposited bythe user as shown in FIG. 7 and deposit acceptance operation foraccepting bills into individual accepting boxes associated withrespective bill kinds after user's confirmation for a counted amount ofmoney has been inputted. In the case where cancel is selected at thetime of user's confirmation input, cancel return operation shown in FIG.9 is performed.

[0093] At the time of deposit count operation (see FIG. 7), billsinputted to the deposit/withdrawal port 20 are separated one by one. Thebill is transported as indicated by arrows 501 a and 501 b, and issubjected to the discrimination of the kind of the bill and the truth orfalsehood thereof by the bill discriminating unit 30. As for adiscriminated bill, a switching gate 503 is switched to 503 a, and thebill is transported in a direction of arrows 501 c and 501 d and istemporarily accepted into the temporary storage box 40. Deposit-rejectedbills including bills having resulted in the impossibility ofdiscrimination by the bill discriminating unit 30 and bills havingabnormal inclination thereof or abnormal interval between them are nottaken into the temporary storage box 40, but transported through theswitching gate 503 switched to 503 b and through a route of arrow 501 fand accepted into the deposit/withdrawal port 20 for return to a user.

[0094] At the time of deposit acceptance (see FIG. 8), the rotary drum401 is rotated in a direction reverse to that at the time of acceptanceinto the temporary storage box 40. Bills wound around the rotary drum401 are delivered in a direction reverse to that at the time ofacceptance into the temporary storage box 40 as indicated by arrow 501d, in a sequence reverse to that at the time of acceptance into thetemporary storage box 40. The bills are then transported as indicated byarrows 501 c and 501 b, passed through the bill discriminating unit 30,and a switching gate 502 switched to a direction indicated by arrow 502b. The bills are passed through 501 g, 501 h, and 901 a, and acceptedinto a specified accepting box through a switching gate 903 of one ofthe deposit box 60, the recycle box 80, and the reject box 90 switchedto a direction indicated by arrow 903 b. At this time, an accepting boxmay be specified by discriminating the kind and the truth or falsehoodof the bills in the bill discriminating unit 30 again. Alternatively, itis possible to provide a means for storing results of discrimination ofall bills when accepting them into the temporary storage box 40 at thetime of the deposit count and specify an accepting box on the basis ofthe stored contents. In the latter case, the processing time required tospecify the accepting box can be shortened, and the portion of thearrows 501 g, 501 h, and 901 a can be shortened.

[0095] At the time of cancel return (see FIG. 9), the rotary drum 401 isrotated in a direction reverse to that at the time of acceptance intothe temporary storage box 40. The switching gate 504 is switched to adirection indicated by 504 b. Bills wound around the rotary drum 401 aretransported as indicated by arrows 501 e and 501 f, in a sequencereverse to that at the time of acceptance into the temporary storage box40. The bills are then accepted into the deposit/withdrawal port 20 forreturn to the user.

[0096] Alternatively, instead of providing the switching gate 504 andthe portion of the bill transport path indicated by the arrow 501 e, aconstruction shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 may be used. In other words, as afirst stage, the bill transport path is stopped in such a stage that thebills are delivered from the temporary storage box 40 onto portions ofthe bill transport path indicated by arrows 501 c, 501 b, 501 g, 501 hand 901 a to 901 e as shown in FIG. 10. As a second stage, the billtransport path is reversed as shown in FIG. 11, and the bills areaccepted into the deposit/withdrawal port 20 through a route indicatedby arrows 901 e to 901 a, 501 h, 501 g, 501 b, 501 c, and 501 f. Whenthe deposited bills are large in number, it is also possible to repeatthe operations of the first and second stages and return the depositedbills to the user. As a result, the bill transport path can have asimpler construction.

[0097] At the time of withdrawal transaction (see FIG. 12), bills aredelivered out of a bill box for each bill kind in the withdrawal box 70(omitted in FIG. 12) and the recycle box 80 by predetermined numbers,transported through a route of arrows 901 e, 901 d, 901 c, 901 b, 901 a,501 h and 501 g, and subjected to the bill kind discrimination by thebill discriminating unit 30. Thereafter, the bills are branched at theswitching gate 503, accepted into the deposit/withdrawal port 20, andpaid to the user. In the case where a withdrawal rejection caused byimpossibility of discrimination in the bill discriminating unit 30 isgenerated, the corresponding bills are temporarily accepted into thetemporary storage box 40 through the switching gate switched to adirection indicated by 503 a in the same way as the deposit count. Billscorresponding to the shortage are additionally delivered from thewithdrawal box 70 and/or the recycle box 80.

[0098] In the case where a reject occurs at the time of withdrawaltransaction and bills are accepted into the temporary storage box 40,withdrawal reject acceptance operation shown in FIG. 13 is performed. Inthe present embodiment, all of the withdrawal reject bills in thetemporary storage box 40 are accepted into the deposit box 60 asillustrated. Alternatively, the withdrawal reject bills are subjected todiscrimination as to bill kind and truth or falsehood again when theyare passed through the bill discriminating unit 30, and bills which canbe discriminated and which belong to such bill kinds as to be able to beaccepted into the recycle box 80 are accepted into the recycle box 80.By doing so, the number of rejected bills can be reduced, and the fundefficiency can be improved.

[0099] Further, although not illustrated, in the case where the userforgets to take out bills in the deposit/withdrawal port 2, thetransaction may be discontinued under the judgment of the machine asbeing abnormal while the bills are left in the deposit/withdrawal port 2as they are. In the present embodiment, however, the continuation of thesucceeding transaction is contemplated by separating the forgotten billsfrom the deposit/withdrawal port 2, subjecting them to thediscrimination in a manner similar to that at the time of deposittransaction and accepting them into the deposit box 60.

[0100] As shown in schematic diagrams of FIGS. 23 to 26, load andrecovery operations can be performed, in the present embodiment, for therecycle box 80 by use of the load/recovery box 81 through the temporarystorage box 40.

[0101] The load operation is such an operation that a clerk in chargedoes not set required bills individually into the recycle boxes 80according to bill kind, but the clerk in charge sets bills en bloc intothe load/recovery box 81 and the set bills are accepted into the recycleboxes 80 automatically in the machine. First, load count operation isperformed as shown in FIG. 23. In the load count operation, billsdelivered from the load/recovery box 81 are subjected to thediscrimination of the bill kind by the bill discriminating unit 3through a route indicated by arrows 901 d to 901 a, 501 h, 501 g, and501 b, and are accepted temporarily into the temporary storage box 40through the switched switching gate 503. Subsequently, load acceptanceoperation is performed as shown in FIG. 24. In the load acceptanceoperation, the bills are discharged from the temporary storage box 40one after another, transported through the same bill transport path inthe reverse direction, and accepted into specified recycle boxes 80according to the bill kind. In the case where the number of bills set enbloc into the load/recovery box 81 is larger than the number of billswhich can be accepted into the temporary storage box, the load countoperation and the load acceptance operation are repeated. Furthermore,load rejected bills which cannot be kind-settled are accepted into thedeposit/withdrawal port 20 through the switching gate 503 switched to adirection indicated by 503 b and through 501 f. After the acceptanceoperation of all loaded bills has been finished, the bills accepted intothe deposit/withdrawal 20 are accepted into the load/recovery box 81 byoperation similar to the operation performed at the time of deposittransaction. Alternatively, the bills accepted into thedeposit/withdrawal 20 may be accepted into the deposit box 60 asrejected bills.

[0102] The recovery operation is an operation in which for example, whenthe recycle box 80 becomes fill, a clerk in charge does not extractbills individually from the recycle box, but a predetermined number ofbills are automatically recovered from the recycle box 80 and acceptedinto the load/recovery box 81. The recovery operation is an operation inwhich bills are moved through a route reverse to that of the loadoperation. Bills delivered out of the recycle box 80 are temporarilyaccepted into the temporary storage box 40 as shown in FIG. 25, and arethereafter recovered from the temporary storage box 40 to theload/recovery box 81 as shown in FIG. 26. Bills rejected in the recoverycount operation shown in FIG. 25 or the recovery acceptance operationshown in FIG. 26 for the reason, for example, that the bill kind cannotbe discriminated are accepted into the deposit box 60 through theswitching gate switched to a direction of 903 b in the recoveryacceptance operation of FIG. 26. Detailed description thereof will beomitted.

[0103] <Second Embodiment>

[0104] A second embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed by referring to FIG. 27 showing a side view of a billdeposit/withdrawal machine, FIG. 28 showing an exterior view of anautomated teller machine, FIGS. 29A and 29B showing operation methods ofthe automated teller machine, and FIGS. 30A, 30B and 30C which areschematic diagrams showing bill flows.

[0105] In FIG. 27, numeral 2 denotes a bill deposit/withdrawal machine,2 a an upper transport mechanism, 2 b a lower bill mechanism, 21 adeposit/withdrawal port, 65 a reject box, 651 a partition plate, 652 anupper accepting space, 653 a lower accepting space, and 91 an openableand closable transport path. In FIG. 28, numeral 111 denotes anautomated teller machine, 111 a a front plate, 111 b a table face, 112 acard/slip processing mechanism, 112 a a card slot, 113 a passbookprocessing mechanism, 113 a a passbook slot, 114 a coindeposit/withdrawal mechanism, 114 a a coin slot, 115 a customeroperation unit, 2 a bill deposit/withdrawal machine, and 21 a bill slot.In FIGS. 29A and 29B, character 111 c denotes a front door, and 111 ddenotes a back door. Components having the same function as those of thefirst embodiment are denoted by like reference characters.

[0106] The second embodiment differs from the above described firstembodiment mainly in that (a) the deposit/withdrawal port 21 isinstalled so as to make the face of the bill slot 21 a nearlyhorizontal, (b) the lower bill mechanism 2 b is composed of two recycleboxes 80 and the openable and closable transport path 91, and (c) thereject box 65 is provided instead of the deposit box.

[0107] Hereafter, features of the present embodiment will be describedin more detail laying stress on the above described points ofdifference. (Other constructions and operations are considered to beeasily understood from the description of the first embodiment.Therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.)

[0108] (1) In the present second embodiment, the deposit/withdrawal port21 is installed so as to make the bill slot 21 a nearly horizontal. Thereason for this is that the present bill deposit/withdrawal machine 2 ismounted on the automated teller machine 111 shown in FIG. 28. An upperportion of the automated teller machine 111 is provided with thecard/slip processing mechanism 112 which communicates with the card slot112 a provided in the upper front plate 111 a to process a user's cardand print and deliver a transaction particulars slip, the passbookprocessing mechanism 113 which communicates with the passbook slot 113 ato process a user's passbook, and a transaction display unit 117. Alower portion of the automated teller machine 111 is provided with thebill deposit/withdrawal mechanism 2 for processing bills, and the coindeposit/withdrawal mechanism 114 for processing coins. The useroperation face 111 b located in an intermediate portion is provided witha customer operation section 115 for displaying and inputting thecontents of a transaction, the bill slot 21 a, and the coin slot 114 a.This automated teller machine 111 can perform processing of user'sdeposit, withdrawal and transfer by using a card, a passbook, bills,coins, and a slip as media.

[0109] As for the construction of the deposit/withdrawal port 21, thedeposit/withdrawal port 20 and the shutter mechanism forming the shutter201 shown in FIG. 14 of the first embodiment are changed in arrangementangle. In addition, a mechanism for inclining the bill hopper 216 to thehorizontal direction by rotary operation is mounted in the firstembodiment. In the deposit/withdrawal port 21, however, the rotaryoperation mechanism of the bill hopper 216 is eliminated and the billhopper is fixed.

[0110] (2) The second embodiment has a structure divided into an upperpart 2 a and a lower part 2 b in the same way as the first embodiment.However, the lower bill mechanism 2 b is composed of two recycle boxes80 and the openable and closable transport path 91. The billdeposit/withdrawal machine of the second embodiment is mounted on theautomated teller machine 111 shown in FIG. 28. According to the machinetype, the bill deposit/withdrawal machine can be made front operationtype or back operation type in the same way as the first embodiment. Inthe machine of front operation type in which a clerk in charge operatesfrom the front face side of the machine as shown in FIG. 29A, therecycle boxes having respective handles appear as illustrated by openingthe front door 111 c of the automated teller machine 111 and furtheropening the openable and closable transport path 91 of the billdeposit/withdrawal machine 2. The clerk in charge can pull out therecycle box by using the handle, perform operations such as billsetting, and operates the openable and closable transport path 91easily.

[0111] On the other hand, in the machine of back operation type in whicha clerk in charge operates from the back face side of the machine asshown in FIG. 29B, the recycle boxes having respective handles appear asillustrated by opening the back door 111 d of the automated tellermachine 111. The clerk in charge can pull out the recycle box by usingthe handle, and perform operations easily.

[0112] By adopting the construction heretofore described, the billsupplementation and recovery operation and jammed bill removal operationare facilitated and the operability is improved.

[0113] In the present embodiment, the bill box casing is not provided,and consequently the upper transport mechanism 2 a is placed directly onthe lower bill mechanism.

[0114] (3) In accordance with (2), the openable and closable transportpath 91 has a construction conformed to two recycle boxes, and has anopenable and closable structure as shown in FIG. 29A.

[0115] (4) In the second embodiment, the deposit box 60 as used in thefirst embodiment is not provided. Instead, the reject box 65 isprovided.

[0116] The reject box 65 of the present embodiment is smaller inaccepting space than the deposit box 60 in the first embodiment.However, the reject box 65 has an upper accepting space 652 and a loweraccepting space 653 separated by the partition plate 651. By switching aswitching gate 505 to a state indicated by 505 b as shown in FIG. 30A,non-returning bills and bills forgotten to take out which cannot beaccepted into the recycle box 80 at the time of deposit acceptance canbe accepted from the temporary storage box 40 into the reject box 65 asshown in FIG. 30B. (Bills which can be accepted into the recycle box 80are accepted into the recycle box 80 by switching the switching gate 505to a state of 505 a.) In the same way, by switching the switching gate505 to the state of 505 b, bills rejected at the time withdrawal can beaccepted from the temporary storage box 40 into the reject box 65 asshown in FIG. 30B. The partition plate 651 of the reject box 65 can bemoved upward and downward by a driving source which is not illustrated.By moving control of the partition plate, for example, forgotten billsare accepted into the upper accepting space 652, whereas other rejectedbills and non-returning bills are accepted into the lower acceptingspace 653. As a result, strict management of cash becomes possible.

[0117] Features of the constructions of the first and second embodimentsheretofore described and effects obtained therefrom will now bedescribed.

[0118] (1) The deposit/withdrawal port and the bill discriminating unitare disposed in the upper part of the bill deposit/withdrawal machine,and the bill accepting boxes are disposed in the lower part of the billdeposit/withdrawal machine. Furthermore, the bill transport path is alsoconstructed so as to be able to be divided into the upper mechanism partand the lower mechanism part. The transport path of the lower part isdisposed near the wall face of user's operation side. In a horizontalplane separating the upper part from the lower part, the mechanisms donot cross. Therefore, the upper part and the lower part can be separatedby the horizontal plane. The upper part and the lower part may bemounted on one machine casing. The lower part accepting bills may bemounted on a further rigid bill box casing. Thus, a constructionrequired to have higher security can also be provided. Since thetransmission path of the lower part is disposed near the wall face ofuser's operation side, both the front operation type in which a clerk incharge can operate from the front face and the back operation type inwhich a clerk in charge can operate from the back face can be easilyconstructed. There is universality capable of coping with various needssuch as operability, installation place, and security.

[0119] (2) In the present embodiments, the upper transport mechanism andthe lower transport mechanism are provided separately. Bills beforematerialization of a transaction such as bills at the time of depositcount exist only in the upper transport mechanism. Even if a jam hasoccurred in the bills, therefore, it becomes unnecessary to open thebill box surrounding the lower bill mechanism and consequently thesecurity can be maintained. Furthermore, there is an effect that billsowned by a user (bills existing in the upper transport mechanism) andbills owned by the bank (bills existing in the lower bill mechanism) canbe distinguished definitely.

[0120] (3) Such a bill deposit/withdrawal machine that accepting boxescan be attached and detached from either of the front side and the backside is implemented. A common structure can be applied both the machineof front operation type and the machine of back operation type as shownrespectively in FIGS. 5A, 29A and FIGS. 5B and 29B, resulting in highuniversality.

[0121] (4) The deposit/withdrawal ports 20 and 21 respectively of thefirst and second embodiments can provide a bill deposit/withdrawalmachine which can be mounted on both the automated teller machine shownin FIG. 3 in which the user's input/discharge direction is nearly thevertical direction and the automated teller machine shown in FIG. 27 inwhich the user's input/discharge direction is nearly the horizontaldirection. Thus automated teller machines having various specificationscan be provided according to the user's operability.

[0122] (5) As for the temporary storage box, the winding system usingthe inducing tape is adopted. Furthermore, the temporary storage boxperforms not only the temporary storage of deposit bills but also thetemporary storage of withdrawal rejected bills. As a result, a simplerecycle box can be implemented as compared with the conventional machinehaving a temporary storage box in the recycle box. It is possible tocope with not only deposit transactions of many bill kinds but alsoeasily cope with foreign bills differing largely in size as comparedwith the conventional machine owing to adoption of the winding systemusing the inducing tape. At the time of temporary storage of withdrawalrejected bills, the possibility of folded bills, broken bills, or aninclined transportation state is high. Such a machine that jam is hardto occur for them can be implemented.

[0123] The following variations are also possible.

[0124] (1) In the above described embodiments, the bill hopper of thedeposit/withdrawal port is common. However, bill hoppers may be providedseparately for the deposit port and the withdrawal port.

[0125] (2) In the above described embodiments, the winding type usingthe rotary drum (see FIG. 17) is adopted as the temporary storage box40. However, a construction of stacking type as in the recycle box (seeFIG. 22) described in the embodiment may also be adopted.

[0126] (3) In the above described embodiments, the openable and closabletransmission path (90 in the first embodiment and 91 in the secondembodiment) is provided so as to be common to all accepting boxes.However, openable and closable transmission paths may be provided foraccepting boxes, respectively.

[0127] (4) In the above described embodiments, the driving source of thetransportation path is one in number, and the transportation path 501g-501 h-901 a is coupled by gears. However, separate driving sources(motors) may be provided for the upper transport mechanism and the lowerbill mechanism. In this case, a fault such as a coupling defect causedby gears is eliminated.

[0128] (5) In the above described embodiments, each accepting box hashandles on both the front side and the back side. The lower billmechanism (1 b in the first embodiment or 2 b in the second embodiment)is constructed so as to be able to be attached and detached from eitherof the front side and the back side. In this way, both the acceptingboxes and the lower bill mechanism have constructions common to themachine of front operation type and the machine of back operation type.However, the accepting boxes and the lower bill mechanism may bededicated either the machine of front operation type or the machine ofback operation type. By doing so, the construction is simplified and thecost can be reduced.

[0129] A third embodiment of the present invention will now be describedby referring to FIGS. 31 to 38.

[0130] As shown in FIG. 31, a bill deposit/withdrawal machine 3 of thethird embodiment has a construction composed of an upper transportmechanism 3 a and a lower bill mechanism 3 b which can be separated inthe vertical direction in the same way as the first and secondembodiments. In the upper transport mechanism 3 a, a deposit/withdrawalport 21, a bill discriminating unit 30, a temporary storage box 40, anda reject box 65 are connected by a bill transport path 52.

[0131] The difference of the third embodiment from the second embodimentwill now be described.

[0132] As shown in a schematic diagram of FIG. 32, the bill transportpath 52 does not transport bills through the bill discriminating unit 30in both directions, but transport bills through the bill discriminatingunit 30 in only one direction indicated by arrow 511 a. A ring-like mainbill transport path 511 leaving the bill discriminating unit 30 andreturning to the bill discriminating unit 30 through a route indicatedby arrows 511 b, 511 c, 511 d, 511 e, 511 f and 511 g is constructed. Inaddition, a unit bill transport path 512 for connecting each unit to themain bill transport path 511 unidirectionally is provided. The unit billtransport path 512 is composed of a transport path from a delivery portof the deposit/withdrawal port 21 to the main bill transport path 511(indicated by arrow 512 a), a transport path from the main billtransport path 511 to an acceptance port of the deposit/withdrawal port21 (indicated by arrow 512 b), a transport path from the main billtransport path 511 to an acceptance port of the temporary storage box 40(indicated by arrow 512 c), a transport path from a delivery port of thetemporary storage box 40 to the main bill transport path 511 (indicatedby arrow 512 d), a transport path from the main bill transport path 511to a lower bill transport path 901 (indicated by arrow 512 e), atransport path from the lower bill transport path 901 to the main billtransport path 511 (indicated by arrow 512 f), and a transport path fromthe main bill transport path 511 to the reject box 65 (indicated byarrow 512 g). The lower bill transport path 901 is a bidirectionaltransport path. Furthermore, at branch points of the main bill transportpath 511 and respective unit bill transport path 512 a to 512 g,switching gates 513, 514, 515, 516, 517, and 518 are mounted. (Suffix“a” and “b” indicate the states of the switching gate.) FIGS. 33 to 38are diagrams showing the flow of bills transported on the bill transportpath shown in FIG. 32 according to the content of the transaction.

[0133]FIG. 33 is a schematic diagram showing the bill flow at the timeof deposit count. Bills from the deposit/withdrawal port 21 are passedthrough the bill discriminating unit 30. On the basis of the result ofthe discrimination, the bills are passed through the switching gates 513a, 514 b and 516 a and accepted into the temporary storage box 40, orreturned to the deposit/withdrawal port 21 through the switching gate513 b.

[0134]FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram showing the bill flow at the timeof deposit acceptance. According to the result of the discriminationperformed at the time of deposit count, bills from the temporary storagebox are accepted into the recycle box 80 or accepted into the rejectbox.

[0135]FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram showing the bill flow at the timeof cancel return. Bills from the temporary storage box 40 are returnedto the reject box 65 or to the deposit/withdrawal port 21 through thebill discriminating unit 30.

[0136]FIG. 36 is a schematic diagram showing the bill flow at the timeof withdrawal. Bills from the recycle box are subjected todiscrimination in the bill discriminating unit 30, and then transportedto the deposit/withdrawal port 21 for withdrawal, accepted in thetemporary storage box 40, or accepted into the reject box 65.

[0137]FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram showing the bill flow at the timeof withdrawal reject acceptance. Bills from the temporary storage box 40are accepted into the recycle box 80.

[0138]FIG. 38 is a schematic diagram showing the bill flow at the timeof forgotten bill recovery. Forgotten bills from the deposit/withdrawalport 21 are passed through the bill discriminating unit 30, and acceptedinto the recycle box 80 or accepted into the reject box 65.

[0139] In the third embodiment, bills are not transported through thebill discriminating unit 30 bidirectionally. The ring-like main billtransport path 511 transport bills through the bill discriminating unit30 unidirectionally. The lower bill transport path is composed of abidirectional bill transport path. Thus the transport path constructionis simple, and a highly reliable machine which is low in possibility ofbill jam can be provided. In other words, in user's deposittransactions, various users might input a folded or broken bill to thedeposit port or input a coin or an alien substance together with billsto the deposit port by mistake. When delivering such a bill, it mightincline largely or be broken. Depending upon the transport state, thereis not a little possibility of jam occurrence in the bill transportpath. Furthermore, in a machine capable of handling foreign bills aswell, not only the number of bill kinds increases as compared with thecase of Japanese yen bills, but also the size of bills largely differ inboth the longitudinal and lateral directions according to the bill kindin many cases. There is a possibility of a large number of billsinputted to the deposit port being largely disturbed in evenness.Furthermore, as for the degree of fold and breaking of bills, there arebills in conditions worse than those of Japanese yen bills, when seenfrom the circulating situation of bills in various countries. Whenhandling bills of such bad conditions, the bill transport path 50 hashigh reliability against the bill jam because of its simple constructionof the bill guide plane.

[0140] A fourth embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed by referring to FIGS. 39 and 40.

[0141] As for the construction of a bill transport path 53, the fourthembodiment has the construction shown in the schematic diagram of FIG.32 in the same way as the third embodiment. The fourth embodimentdiffers from the third embodiment in that connection bill transportpaths 540 or 541 is constructed between an upper transport mechanism 4 aand a lower bill mechanism 4 b of a bill deposit/withdrawal machine 4 or5.

[0142] The bill deposit/withdrawal machine of the fourth embodiment ismounted on the automated teller machine 101 as shown in FIG. 1. In themachine of back operation type as shown in FIG. 5B, the billdeposit/withdrawal machine 4 shown in FIG. 39 is used. In the machine offront operation type as shown in FIG. 5A, the bill deposit/withdrawalmachine 5 shown in FIG. 40 is used. In the bill deposit/withdrawalmachine 4 shown in FIG. 39, the connection bill transport path 540 isprovided between the upper transport mechanism 4 a and the lower billmechanism 4 b. In the bill deposit/withdrawal machine 5 shown in FIG.40, the connection bill transport path 541 is provided between the uppertransport mechanism 4 a and the lower bill mechanism 4 b. The uppertransport mechanism 4 a and the lower bill mechanism 4 b of FIG. 40 arethe same as those of FIG. 39. However, the lower bill mechanism 4 b ofFIG. 40 is mounted backward. In either of the bill deposit/withdrawalmachine 4 of FIG. 39 for machines of back operation type and the billdeposit/withdrawal machine 5 of FIG. 40 for machines of front operationtype, the clerk in charge need not open or close the lower transportpath 92 when operating the bill accepting boxes (60, 80) unlike theopenable and closable transmission paths 90 and 91 shown in the first tothird embodiments. By merely opening and closing the door of the billbox casing 106, the clerk in charge can operate the bill accepting boxesdirectly.

[0143] How the selection of the front operation/back operation inoperation method of the clerk in charge is coped with in the fourthembodiment will now be described. The upper transport path 4 a iscommon. The lower bill mechanism 4 b and the bill box casing 106 arecommon, and installed so as to be forward-facing or backward-facing. Asfor the connection bill transport path, two kinds 540 and 541 areprepared. According to the selection of the front operation/backoperation, either the connection bill transport path 540 or 541 is used.It becomes possible to provide such a machine that bill accepting boxescan be easily operated.

[0144] According to the present invention, a bill deposit/withdrawalmachine having a simple bill transport construction, and a highlyreliable bill deposit/withdrawal machine reduced in bill jam not onlyfor Japanese yen bills but also for bills having various sizes can berealized. Furthermore, a highly versatile bill deposit/withdrawalmachine capable of coping with various specifications in aspects ofoperability of the user and the clerk in charge and security.

What is claimed is:
 1. A bill deposit/withdrawal machine for performingdeposit or withdrawal of bills according to a transaction, comprising: adeposit/withdrawal port disposed in an upper part of said billdeposit/withdrawal machine, for performing deposit or withdrawal ofbills; a bill discriminating unit for discriminating bills; a solid billbox casing disposed in a lower part of said bill deposit/withdrawalmachine; at least one bill accepting box disposed in said bill boxcasing, for accepting bills transported from said deposit/withdrawalport and/or accepting bills to be transported to said deposit/withdrawalport; and a bill transport path for connecting said deposit/withdrawalport to said bill accepting box through said bill discriminating unitand for transporting bills, said bill transport path including an upperbill transport path provided in said upper part of said billdeposit/withdrawal machine and a lower bill transport path connected tosaid upper bill transport path and provided in said bill box casing,wherein said lower bill transport path is disposed in the vicinity of awall of said bill deposit/withdrawal machine on the side of or on theopposite side of an operator who operates said machine.
 2. A billdeposit/withdrawal machine according to claim 1, wherein said bill boxcasing comprises a door corresponding to a position in which said lowerbill transport path is disposed.
 3. A bill deposit/withdrawal machineaccording to claim 1, wherein said bill accepting box is detachable, andwherein said bill box casing comprises a door corresponding to aposition at which said bill accepting box is detachable.
 4. A billdeposit/withdrawal machine for performing deposit or withdrawal of billsaccording to a transaction, comprising: a deposit/withdrawal portdisposed in an upper part of said bill deposit/withdrawal machine, forperforming deposit or withdrawal of bills; a bill discriminating unitfor discriminating bills; a solid bill box casing disposed in a lowerpart of said bill deposit/withdrawal machine; at least one billaccepting box disposed in said bill box casing, for accepting billstransported from said deposit/withdrawal port and/or accepting bills tobe transported to said deposit/withdrawal port; and a bill transportpath for connecting said deposit/withdrawal port to said bill acceptingbox through said bill discriminating unit and for transporting bills,said bill transport path including an upper bill transport path providedin said upper part of said bill deposit/withdrawal machine and a lowerbill transport path connected to said upper bill transport path andprovided in said bill box casing; wherein at time of a deposittransaction a bill inputted from said deposit/withdrawal port isdiscriminated by said bill discriminating unit and transported throughsaid upper and lower bill transport paths to be accepted into said billaccepting box disposed in said bill box casing; and wherein at time of awithdrawal transaction a bill sent out from said bill accepting boxdisposed in said bill box casing is transported through said upper andlower bill transport paths and discriminated by said bill discriminatingunit to be delivered to said deposit/withdrawal port.
 5. A billdeposit/withdrawal machine according to claim 4, wherein at time of awithdrawal transaction a withdrawal rejected bill said billdiscriminating unit cannot discriminate is accepted into another billaccepting unit disposed in said bill box casing.